LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Five former inmates at an Arkansas county jail have settled a lawsuit against a doctor who said they were given the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin without their consent to fight COVID-19.
A federal judge last week dismissed a 2022 lawsuit against Dr. Robert Karas, the Washington County Jail doctor who administered coronavirus treatment drugs, citing the settlement.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of ivermectin for some parasites, head lice, and skin diseases in humans and animals. The FDA has not approved it for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. According to the FDA, side effects of this drug include skin rash, nausea, and vomiting.
Prisoners said they were never told that ivermectin was included in their COVID-19 medications and were instead told they were being given vitamins, antibiotics and steroids. According to the lawsuit, inmates complained that they suffered side effects from taking the drug, including blurred vision, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
Holly Dixon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represents inmates, said, “These people have made incredible efforts to cope with the abusive and inhumane experimentation they endured at the Washington County Detention Center.” He has courage and resilience.” “The experimental use of ivermectin without the knowledge and consent of these patients is a serious violation of medical ethics and patient rights, and these brave clients are acting solely in their own rights. “We were able to prevent further violations of the rights of other people detained at WCDC.”
Under the settlement, each former inmate will receive $2,000. Two of the inmates are no longer in custody and the remaining three are currently in state custody, Dixon said. The ACLU said the prison has also improved its notice and consent procedures and forms since the lawsuit was filed.
Michael Mosley, the defense attorney in the case, said by resolving the case, the defendants had not admitted any wrongdoing.
“From our perspective, the settlement amount (as you can see) is very minimal and less than the anticipated costs of continuing the litigation, so we simply We just reconciled,” he said. “Furthermore, the claims made by some that Dr. Karas conducted any experiments with ivermectin were, and continue to be, false and have been disproven in this case.”
The state medical board voted last year to take no action against Karas after receiving complaints that he used ivermectin to treat inmates for the coronavirus. Karas said he began administering ivermectin at the prison in November 2020. He told state medical board investigators that 254 inmates at the prison were being treated with ivermectin.
Karas defended the use of ivermectin in treating COVID-19, saying no prisoners were forced to take it.
In March, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks denied the inmates’ motion to dismiss the case, ruling that their claims that their constitutional rights were violated were “plausible.”
In 2021, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists called for an immediate halt to the prescribing and use of drugs to treat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Prescriptions of ivermectin at pharmacies have surged during the pandemic, prompting health officials in Arkansas and other states to raise concerns about toxic effects on people taking the animal-type drug to treat COVID-19. The warning was issued after a sudden increase in calls to the management center. The CDC also warned doctors about this trend.
Despite the warnings, the drug was touted by Republican lawmakers in Arkansas and other states as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
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